OMAHA, Neb. – For the fourth time in the six-year existence of the award, Creighton University has been recognized with the 2007-08 Missouri Valley Conference All-Academic Award. Bluejay student-athletes posted a 3.30 cumulative grade-point average over the 2007-08 academic calendar. Creighton previously shared the award in 2003-04, and were the outright winners in 2004-05 and 2006-07.

Sixteen student-athletes (7 percent of all student-athletes) posted perfect 4.0 grade-point averages during the 2008 spring semester and 37.6 percent of CU’s 229 student-athletes earned a 3.5 GPA or better during the same term. Better than 71 percent of all Creighton athletes earned GPAs of 3.0 or better last spring.

One-hundred seven student-athletes made the Dean’s List at least once last year, including 60 student-athletes that earned the honor both semesters. Creighton had a Valley-best five teams ranked among the nation’s top 10 percent in the NCAA’s Academic Progress Report, posting multi-year scores ranking with the country’s best in women’s basketball, women’s cross country, men’s golf, women’s soccer and men’s tennis. Creighton ranks first among Valley schools with a 94 percent graduation success rate for all student-athletes.

Creighton owns 28 all-time CoSIDA Academic All-American honors. Last season, softball standout Tara Oltman was named an ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American. Oltman, the Missouri Valley Conference Pitcher of the Year in both of her first two collegiate campaigns, owned a 4.0 cumulative grade point average in English/Secondary Education through her first three semesters on campus.

The MVC All-Academic Award was first recommended by the league faculty representatives in hopes of recognizing institutional academic excellence. The MVC Joint Committee quickly took its lead to establish this prestigious award.

The conference academic excellence award is based on the average student-athlete grade-point average for the academic year. The GPA calculations are tallied for all student-athletes in MVC-sponsored sports who compete, practice or receive athletic aid during the academic year.Award History:2002-03 Indiana State2003-04 Indiana State/Creighton2004-05 Creighton2005-06 Drake2006-07 Creighton2007-08 Creighton